Chapter 3: Ethical Issues and Research

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Chapter 3Ethical Issues and Research
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What are ETHICS?

• is a system dealing with moral principles or
  values (what is right and wrong) and with moral
  duty and obligation
• the guiding principles of conduct governing an
  individual or a group
• Soin this class we talk about moral issues
  related to doing research

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Milgrams Obedience Experiments

• Series of experiments (1963, 1964, 1965) designed
  to examine obedience to an authority figure
• Participants (all male) were paid 4.50 to
  participate in a scientific study of memory and
  learning that was being conducted at Yale
  University

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Milgrams Obedience Experiment (cont)

• Scientist explained that the study would examine
  the effects of punishment on learning.
• Confederate, middle-aged Mr. Wallace was the
  learner and received the punishment
• Participant was the teacher and administered the
  punishment

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Milgrams Obedience Study (cont)

• What happened if the teacher wanted to quit?
• Approximately what percentage of participants
  continued to deliver shocks all the way to 450
  volts?
• What about the ethics of the study?

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The Belmont Report

• Current ethical guidelines have their origins in
  the Belmont Report Ethical Principles and
  Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects
  of Research (from Depts. of Ed and Welfare)
• Three basic ethical principles (more on next
  slide)
• 1. Beneficence
• 2. Respect for persons (autonomy)
• 3. Justice

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Three Basic Ethical Principles

• The ethical principle of BENEFICENCE
• is need for research to maximize benefits and
  minimize any possible harmful effects of
  participation
• Requires a Risk-benefit analysis

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Assessment of Risks and Benefits (cont)

• Potential Risks are
• Physical harm
• Psychological stress
• Loss of confidentiality and privacy

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Assessment of Risks and Benefits (cont)

• Potential Benefits are
• Direct benefits, such as educational benefit,
  new skill, or treatment for a psychological or
  medical problem
• Material benefits
• Personal satisfaction
• Educational Benefit

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Three Basic Ethical Principles

• Ethical principle of AUTONOMY
• States that participants are treated as
  autonomous
• That is, they are capable of making deliberate
  decisions about whether to participate in
  research
• - Application to be participant in research
  requires informed consent (see next)

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Informed Consent

• Requires potential participants are provided with
  all the information that might influence their
  decision to participate such as
• Purposes of the study
• Risks and benefits of participation
• Their rights to refuse or terminate participation

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Informed Consent (cont)

• informed consent form should be written so that
  participants understand the information in the
  form by using
• Simple and straightforward language
• Generally 6th to 8th grade level
• Written using the second person
• If participants are non-English speakers, there
  should be a translated version of the form.

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Informed Consent (cont)

• Autonomy issues
• What happens when the participants may lack the
  ability to make a free and informed decision to
  voluntarily participate?
• - Minors (requires assent by guardian)
• - Patients in psychiatric hospitals
• - Adults with cognitive impairments

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Informed Consent (cont)

• Coercion must NEVER be used to obtain
  participants!!!
• This is ANY procedure that limits an
  individuals freedom to consent
• Examples include physical, psychological,
  monetary threats and promises of extraordinary
  benefits (lotsa money, inducements, physical
  pleasures)

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Informed Consent (cont)

• Is use of deception allowed? (more later)
• If completely honest, informed consent might
  affect the outcome of the study by leading to
• - Altered or unnatural behavior
• - Biased participants responses
• - Biased sample of participants

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Informed Consent (cont)

• Objections to the use of deception in Psychology
  research
• Morally wrong
• Harms the reputation of the field

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Informed Consent (cont)

• Is deception a major ethical problem in
  psychological research?
• Deception is mainly in social psychological
  research and primarily involves the use of false
  cover stories.

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Informed Consent (cont)

• Three primary reasons for the decrease in the
  type of elaborate deception seen in the Milgram
  study
• Research in learning and cognitive variables
  rather than emotions (the methodology used
  differs)
• level of awareness of ethical issues has led
  researchers to conduct studies in other ways
• Ethics committees at universities and colleges
  now review proposed research (and are less likely
  to approve the use of elaborate deception)

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Importance of Debriefing

• Debriefing occurs after the completion of the
  study.
• Researcher must
• - Explain why the deception was necessary
• - Make sure participant has calmed down if
  participants physical or psychological state was
  altered
• - Provide additional resources if necessary
• - Make sure participant leaves experiment
  without any ill feelings toward field of
  psychology

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Alternatives to Deception

• Role-playing
• Describes a situation asks participants how they
  would respond or to predict how real participants
  would respond
• Problems
• Situation does not involve participants very
  deeply
• Demand characteristics
• Accuracy of responses

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Alternatives to Deception (cont)

• Simulation studies
• Different type of role-playing that involves
  simulation of a real-world situation
• Problem
• Ethical issues (e.g. Zimbardos Stanford Prison
  study, 1973)

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Alternatives to Deceptions (cont)

• Honest experiments
• Types of honest strategies
• Participants are completely aware of the purposes
  of the research
• Participants are aware that someone is trying to
  change their behavior
• Situations in which a naturally occurring event
  presents an opportunity for research

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Justice and the Selection of Participants

• Ethical principle of JUSTICE
• Issues of fairness in receiving the benefits of
  research
• Issues of fairness in baring the burdens of
  accepting risks
• - Tuskegee Syphilis Study
• - Issues of equity

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Researcher Commitments

• By doing research, researcher makes implicit
  contract with participants
• Researcher should be there for the study and on
  time
• Researchers that promise to send summary of
  results of study to participants should do so
• If participants are to receive course credit,
  researchers should immediately inform the
  instructors when a person takes part in a study

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Federal Regulations and IRB

• Every institution that receives federal funds for
  research must have an Institutional Review Board
  (IRB)
• IRB has five individuals, one must be from
  outside institution
• All research conducted by faculty, students, and
  staff associated with the institution is reviewed
  in some way by the IRB
• Federal regulations of RISK assessed by IRB (see
  next)

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Federal Regulations of RISK

• Exempt research
• Research in which there is no risk
• - Anonymous questionnaires, surveys, educational
  tests, naturalistic observations in public
  places, etc.
• Minimal risk research
• Research when the risk of harm is no greater than
  risk encountered in daily life or in routine
  physical or psychological tests.

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RISK (cont)

• Greater than minimal risk research
• Subject to thorough review by the IRB
• Complete informed consent and other safeguards
  may be required

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APA Ethics Code

• APA The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and
  Code of Conduct
• Known as the Ethics Code
• Revised in 2002
• Five general principles relate to beneficence,
  responsibility, integrity, justice, and respect
  for the rights and dignity of others.

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APA Ethics Code (cont)

• Ten ethical standards address specific issues
  concerning the conduct of psychologists in
  teaching, research, therapy, counseling, testing,
  and other professional roles and
  responsibilities.
• APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code
  of Conduct

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Research With Human Participants

• Ethical Standard 8
• 8.01 Institutional approval
• 8.02 Informed consent to research
• 8.03 Informed consent for recording voices and
  images in research
• 8.04 Client/Patient, student, and subordinate
  research participants

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Research With Human Participants

• 8.05 Dispensing with informed consent for
  research
• 8.06 Offering inducements for research
  participation
• 8.07 Deception in research
• 8.08 Debriefing

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Ethics and Animal Research

• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
  (IACUC)
• Reviews animal research procedures and ensures
  that all regulations are adhered to
• Ethics Code
• - 8.09 Human care and use of animals in research

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Misrepresentation

• 8.10 Reporting research results
• Fabrication of data is fraud.
• Serious implications to the foundation of
  science.
• Failing to replicate previous work
• 8.11 Plagiarism
• Misrepresenting anothers work as your own.

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The End